We've Died Once Already
by Scitty
Summary: When sisters Emma and Ellie are shot fleeing from their town, they wake up to yells, what the sisters do next they will consider the best decision of their lives.


_Emma and Ellie ran through the forest, gunshots ringing in their ears. Emma ran fast, dragging Ellie by her wrist. Ellie stumbled along, exhaustion wearing down the young women. "Ellie.. If you don't run we're going to die.." Emma choked, pulling her sister along. Ellie looked up, in time to see Emma freeze, her face frozen in a look of pain and horror._

_"Emma.. Emma no..!" Ellie cried, as Emma collapsed, bleeding from her chest. "Ellie.. Please.. Just, go.." Emma pleaded, blood spilling up from her mouth. "No! I can't leave you!" Ellie sobbed, pressing her hand over the gunshot. Another gunshot rang out, echoing off the trees. Ellie collapsed on the ground, her forehead left with a gaping hole._

_Emma choked, and grabbed Ellie's hand. They were both going out, together._

Emma and Ellie awoke to yells. Sitting bolt upright the two sisters slowly crawled over to the commotion. Emma and Ellie poked their heads over a rock, and saw short men being put into sacks by 3 horrific beasts. Some were hung over a fire and slowly turned on a spit. "We have to do something." Emma whispered, eyes locked on the scene in front of her. "What are we even supposed to do!?" Ellie whispered back in horror. "We can't just let them die." Emma whispered, looking thoughtfully at her friend

"Lets hurry up, I don't fancy bein' turned to stone!" One of the beasts turning the spit grumbled. Emma's eyes lit up, and she stood up, and slowly walked into the clearing. "Wait, you're making a terrible mistake!" Emma cried, readying herself to run if any of the beasts came towards her.

"You can't negotiate with them! They're half-wits!" One of the men cried. 'What does that make us!?" Another asked angrily. "I..I mean with the seasoning.." Emma started, glancing nervously at the beasts. 'What 'bout it?" One of the beasts asked, looking down at Emma. Emma ignored the cries of outrage from the men, and kept her attention focused on the beasts.

"Well.. Have you smelled them? You're going to need something stronger than sage!" Emma started. The beasts looked at her curiously. "Well, what's the secret?" One asked, taking another step towards Emma. "The secret is..." Emma started, tipping her head slightly to the left. "Well? What's the secret?!" "Tell us!" Two of the beasts yelled in unison. "Sh! Let the uh, woman speak." A beast said, bending down to Emma.

Emma nodded her head in thanks. "The secret, is... To... Skin them first!" Emma cried, slightly panicked. The men yelled at Emma in rage, throwing threats her way. "Tom, get me the filleting knife." The beast asked, raising his hand. "What a load of 'wubbish!" The beast turning the spit retorted. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on, scarf em' I say, boots and all!" The beast continued.

Emma noticed a figure move through the brush on the edge of the clearing, but returned her focus to the beasts. "He's right.. Nothin' wrong with a bit of raw dwarf!" One of the beasts said, picking up one of the men and holding him above his mouth. "Nice and crunchy!" The beast said, holding the terrified man above his mouth.

"N..Not that one! He's infected!" Ellie cried, jumping out and standing beside Emma. The beast looked at Ellie in horror. "He's got worms.. In his.. Tubes.." Ellie cried. The beast made a sound of disgust and flung the man down onto the pile. "I..In fact they all have.. They're infested with parasites its a terrible business I wouldn't risk it I really wouldn't!" Ellie cried, shaking her head.

The men were outraged and began to yell and berate Ellie and Emma until one gave them a swift kick, and soon they were yelling about how they had parasites. A beast walked up and stood in front of Emma and Ellie, a scowl on its face. "What wouldya' have us do then? Let em' all go?!" It asked angrily.

"Well..." Emma and Ellie replied in unison. "You think I don't know what you two are up to? These little ferrets are taking us for fools!" The beast yelled, walking back over to turn the spit. Emma and Ellie looked at each other in horror, before looking back at the men. Emma scowled.

"Ferrets?!" Emma yelled, anger in her voice. Ellie looked over at her sister in horror, before a loud voice interrupted. "**The dawn will take you all!**" A man dressed in grey yelled, climbing upon the rock where Emma and Ellie had been hiding.

"Who's that?"

"No idea."

"Can we eat him too?"

The beasts asked, looking up at the man. The man raised his interestingly shaped stick, and brought it down onto the boulder split in half and light flooded the clearing. The beasts hissed in pain and their skin hardened into stone. Emma grabbed Ellie and pulled her back to the edge of the clearing, staring in horror at the newly formed statues.

Slowly, a grin spread across Emma's face and she cheered, releasing Ellie. Her celebration was cut short, as Ellie tackled her to the ground.

"You are the most idiotic person I have ever met in my entire life Emma! What were you thinking?! You could of gotten yourself killed!" Ellie screamed, a look of panic on her face. "But for the life of me I wouldn't change you for the world.." Ellie cried, wrapping her arms around Emma and sobbing into her chest.

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped her arms around her sister, a few stray tears falling down her face. "C'mon, I think we have a bit of work to do." Emma breathed, releasing Ellie. Emma and Ellie stood up, and surveyed the clearing. "I'll go put out that damned fire, seeing as I have more experience, you go get these guys untied." Emma offered, pointing towards the fire.

Ellie nodded, and jogged over to the heap of men, each sporting grins. Emma looked around, and grabbed a long stick. Emma flipped the burning logs off of the fire, and stomped them out with the hiking boots she was wearing. Once all the logs were put out, Emma went and stomped on the embers, before piling dirt onto them.

Ellie walked over and began to work her way through the first knot. Ellie grimaced, and wiped her hands on her jeans. Ellie paused, and felt the area of jean over a pocket. Ellie grinned, and pulled out a pocket knife. Flipping it open, and being careful not to cut herself, or the man in the sack, Ellie began to saw through the knot. Eventually, the pocket knife cut through the rope and the man scrambled to his feet.

Ellie smiled, and pointed towards Emma. "Go help her, I've got this under control." Ellie suggested, moving onto the next knot. The man paused before nodding, his blond hair shining in the sunlight as he spun around and ran over to Emma. Soon, Ellie was joined by the man in grey, and soon they were getting people out at two times the speed.

When Ellie reached one of the last knots, the person inside the sack began to talk to her. "Why did you do that..?" He asked, curiosity in his voice. Ellie paused for a moment before resuming cutting through the thick rope. "Maybe because we know how it feels to die.. And we weren't going to let that happen to all of you." Ellie replied, her voice thoughtfully and full of sorrow.

"Kili, at your service." Kili replied, dipping his head. Ellie grinned, and cut the man free. "Ellie Parker at yours." Ellie replied, and moved onto the next man.

Emma was still trying to figure out how to get the men down off the spit when a man walked over to her. He stopped beside her, and crossed his arms, looking up at his friends hoisted several feet in the air. Emma grumbled to herself, and walked over to one of the legs.

"Sorry boys, but unless you want to fall on hot embers, this is the only way to do this." Emma advised, before knocking out the leg and swiftly pushing the spit over. The man quickly grabbed one of the loose ropes, and pulled, slowly easing the spit onto the ground. Emma's eyes widened slightly, then grinned.

"Now, lets get to work shall we?" Emma asked, glancing over at the man. The man grinned. "Fili, at your service." Fili said bowing. "Emma Parker at yours." Emma replied, giving a curt bow. Emma grabbed a sharp rock off of the ground, and began to saw through the rope, until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Turning around, Emma saw Fili behind her, holding two daggers. Emma stiffened slightly, until Fili offered her one of the daggers. Emma grinned, and took the dagger. Stabbing the dagger into the cord, Emma tore at the rope, freeing the men. Once all of them were free, Emma returned the dagger and walked over to Ellie.

Emma whispered something, and Ellie grinned. The pair ran over to one of the beasts that was hunched over, and Emma put her foot in Ellie's hands. Ellie burst upwards, sending Emma rocketing up the statue. Emma swung around the beasts head, and pulled herself on top of its back.

Ellie smiled, and began to scale the beast with expertise, reaching the top in under seconds. Emma and Ellie sprawled out on the back of the beast, and looked up at the sky. "Aren't we supposed to be dead?" Ellie asked quietly, glancing over at Emma. Emma didn't reply, and bit her lip. "I think we have some questions to ask, El." Emma whispered, rolling off of the troll

Ellie gasped, and looked over the edge, only to find Emma sitting on the beasts arm. "I hate you." Ellie groaned. "I love you too." Emma replied sweetly, hopping down onto the ground.

" 'Scuse me, but where are we?" Emma asked, walking up to the man in grey. "You are in Middle Earth my dear, past the borders of the Shire to be exact." The man in grey replied smiling. Emma furrowed her brow. "Right, one more question, why is everyone so short?" Emma asked, glancing around.

"Well they are dwarves my dear, and we have one Hobbit." The man in grey replied, adjusting his hat. "And I am Gandalf the Grey, one of the Istari." Gandalf added. Emma looked up at Gandalf in bewilderment. "Uhh, have you heard of a place called just "Earth"?" Emma asked, her brow furrowed in concern.

"Mm, I have, but it was an age ago." Gandalf replied, looking curiously at Emma. Emma's eyes lit up. "Well, that's where me and Ellie are from, until we... Died..." Emma replied. "Do you know how we would get back there?" Emma asked. "No, I do not. And what do you mean by died..?" Gandalf asked.

Emma glanced back over at Ellie. "Me and Ellie lived in a place called Russia, the area we lived in was high in war.." Emma started, her face falling. "Our town was attacked, and me and Ellie ran into the surrounding forests. We were chased on foot, and Ellie was struggling to keep up." Emma choked, struggling to hold herself together.

"We stopped for a moment and I was shot by a weapon called a gun. Right through my chest." Emma choked, pointing to a spot on her chest. "E..Ellie stopped.. A..And tried to get me to stand up, when she was shot through her forehead." Emma sobbed, trying to hide her tears from prying eyes.

Gandalf put a hand on her shoulder. "You were not meant to die that day, little one." Gandalf comforted. "You and your sister have been given a second chance." Gandalf finished. "I..Its not that.." Emma choked, her eyes red and bloodshot. "Its that I'm never going to see any of my friends or family again, me and Ellie are all alone." Emma sobbed, desperately attempting to hide her tears.

Fili walked over to Emma, and was about to place a hand on her shoulder when a choked sob escaped. Fili paused, his eyes widening in surprise. "Please don't let Ellie see!" Emma hissed, trying furiously to dry her eyes. "Why don't you want her to see?" Fili asked, standing in front of Emma.

"Because I have to be strong for her, its a big sisters duty." Emma choked. Fili grinned. "I know how you feel." Fili replied, glancing past Emma towards his brother. Gandalf had walked over to one of the stone beasts, leaving Fili and Emma alone. "Why?" Fili asked, looking curiously at Emma.

"Why did you stall them?" Fili asked. Emma sighed. "We've died once already, we weren't going to let it happen to you.."


End file.
